Car-window shootings warrant felony prosecution

Published: Friday, November 14, 2008

THE VANDALS who shot out about 180 vehicle windows in Southwest Lubbock early on Nov. 5 and 6 should face a stiff punishment if convicted for the crimes.

Police arrested three suspects, due to some good police work by Lubbock police Sgt. Jeff Davis. He stopped the men near one of the shootings about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 6. The suspects, two 20-year-olds and a 21-year-old, had a pellet gun and a supply of BBs in their vehicle.

Criminal District Attorney Matt Powell said the investigation is still continuing, and most of the cases have not been presented to his office. He said he has not made a final decision about how the cases will be prosecuted but discussed his options:

 The cases can be prosecuted before a jury and tried as a felony by stringing several cases together. The jury would determine guilt or innocence, would set the sentence for defendants who were convicted and could even recommend probation if the sentence was 10 years or less. However, the jury could not order restitution, Mr. Powell said. That decision would be up to the judge.

 The defendants could be allowed to plead guilty, and restitution could be made part of the plea bargain deal. The defense would have to agree to the deal.

The vandalism crimes are very serious ones, Mr. Powell said, noting he heard an early damage estimate of $250,000.

The criminal district attorney said he is leaning toward prosecuting the case in a felony court. His experience with victims of such property crimes is that most of them are more concerned with the offenders being punished than they are in recovering money for their damages.

That is the way we look at it, and we respectfully suggest to Mr. Powell the crimes be tried on the felony level before a jury. A plea bargain deal, especially one involving individual misdemeanor offenses, would not fit the crime.

Requiring full restitution sounds appealing and would enhance justice for the victims, but how much restitution actually would be paid? If the $250,000 damage estimate is correct and the maximum probation time of 10 years were applied, that would mean restitution of $25,000 a year would be required before all of it could be paid. Is it likely to ever be paid back?

If the defendants are guilty of the crimes, they broke the law on the felony level and should face a serious punishment for what they did. Let a state district court jury hear the facts of the case and make the determinations of guilt or innocence and, if applicable, punishment as the jurors see fit.